Improved safety-truck



s. Y. BRADSTREET.

. Safety Truck. No. 77,248. j I Patented; April 28, 186&

.Tnventar Wain/eases @M N ET Rs, PMIn-Liihognpher. Washingmn, ILC.

s. Y. BnAesTnE-ET. 0F M'o-NT'IenLLo, row-A,

Letters Patent No. 77,248,'dizted April 28,1868,

IMPROVED SAEETY-TRUOK,

an fitlitbnlt-ttfm'th in litihtit Zhttia, gfirteutmrt making-tart of it: same.

.T. 0 ALL WHOM IT'MAY,GONOERN:.

Be it :known that I, S. Y. BRADSTBEET, of Montioello, in the county of Jones,"an d State oi, Iowa, ha ve invented a new and improved Safety-Truck; andI do hereby declare that the foll owingis a i'ul'l, qleaiyend exact description of the'eonstru'etion and operation of the saline, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making apart of this specification, in *which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a car with my truck attaehed, a portion of the frame being broken away. Figure 2 isa eross-seetio'n of thesame. 4 g V This invention hasforits'object the prevention of railroad-cars from bouncing of off the track, and consists in the employment of an auxiliary truck of peculiar construction,whiehguides the main trucks, and which cannot, by any ordinary obstructions, be thrown oii' of the rails.

In the drawings, A A represent the frame of the car, and BB the wheels, and BB. are the rails, upon whi'eh tho ear rnnsi v t p C O'are auxiliary wheels, revolving on fixed spindles, D D,Vand arranged in an intrlinedpositiomas shown in fig. 2. The tread of the auxiliary wheels is grooved, the bevel-oi the walls of 'theehan n e l being such that a't theunder side of the wheel the outer wall rests squarely on the-tread of thoraih es' seen at a, whilenthe inner wall stands vortieally alongside of. the'inner edge of the' rail, as seen at c, and at -the-.-u -pper side of the wheel the inner wall is horizontal, as -seen at c 'while'the outer wall is hourly or quite vertical, as shown at 0 The spindles D'D are supported by two plates for beanas,'G GQof iron, beingmadelarger-between the plates than are their extremities, which passthrough -the plates, and; having square shoulders, on which the plates rest, in order that, howevertightly-tho latter may be screwed together by means of the nuts ar a, they will bear only against the shoulders, at d, of the spindles, and never-interrupt the action of the wheels that run on the spindles. In connection withthe wheels 0 0, two other wheels, F F, running on vertical spindles, similar in oonstruotionto those of the inelined wheelsyoperate-in a horizontal position between the plates-G G, and in.

a line between the upper edges of the inclined wheels. The faces of these wheels are not grooved. They are arranged, as shown in fig. 1, to run with the under edge of, their rims resting on the horizontal wall, a, and their perimeters bearing against the nearly vertical walls. 0 a. In order that they may never cease to press against the inelined wheels in the manner described, by reason of wearing down, or from any other cause, their-spindles are set in slots, g g, in the plates G G, by which they can be adjdste'd towards or from the inelinedw'h'eels, at

pleasure. These wheels are foi' the purpose of bra'oing and shpporting-the grooved wheels, in time of great upward or downward pressure. p I 4 The ends of the plate G- are fixed to or have'eastiupon them upright slotted guides, h la-wh ioh slide up and down in a g'roov'ed block, H, on either side of the Farfthus allowing 'the whole device or'auxiliary truck eon sistrng of the plates G G', wheels 0 0, F13, and their connections, to slide vertically.

When, from any unevenness of the track, or'from'any obstructions on it,,the main wheelsrise or bounce, carrying the body of the car with-them, the auxiliary truekdoes not'boun oe with the car, but continues in posiq tion on the track. i

To assistit in maintaining its position, I attach a stout's'pring,'J extending aqrossthe whole width of the truck, as seen in fig. 2, its ends resting in the fixed block H, and itseentre passingnear-the upper side of the plate G, and resting on a block, E, where a stoutholfa'I, passes from the plate up through ani apertnre in the spring, and terminates in a head, 2'. The spring, resting on the block E, presses the auxiliary-truck fdown, holding the grooved wheels firmly on the track, and the Belt Iguides the motion of the'spring, andallows the truck to operate up and down easily and quiekly. i i

The guide'hlocks H H are supported, and allowed a'slight rocking nfotion, by means of pivots orjonrnals', M M, working in elongated bearings or slots in the eross-beams'A' Ar' The purpose" of eldngatingfthe slots horizo'htally is to allow the whole auxiliary truckto yieldslightly in. ailateral direction. Inorder toprevent any violent or uncomfortable jar resulting from this, and, .at the same time,'to allow the truck to yield to the motion of the car in passing a curve in the road, I interpose rubber springs or cushions, e e, between the ends 'of the auxiliary truck end the inner sides of the ear-frame.

By this mesns, the-auxiliery truck, while holding its running-wheels firmly on the track, yet allows-an e'asy motion to the car, the truck being constructed so as to yield as-muoh as is required in every direction.

The gropved wheels are intended to run tightly between the rails, having no plhy, as the other wheels have, between the rails, where the latter are properly laid. I

The object in thus'adjusting the wheels 0 G is that in case the track should spread a little, still, when the cars move sideways, the grooved wheels would reach the track before the main wheels, and would thereby control them. The'rhbber springs e e would'eit the some timeyield proportionately to the pressure, and to the extent that the builder of the car designed in adjusting them in place.

Among the many advantages secured by this apparatus, in addition to those already set forth, may be mentioned the following 'l'he ausiliary wheels are so shaped-that they cannot climb the sides of the rails, and so applied that they prevent the flanges of thetnein wheels from gri'ndingagainst the track, especially at curves in the road. Besides this, being on independenthxles, they do not themselves twist or grind upon the rails in passing curves, thereby preventing, not only. great wear upon the-rails and danger of breaking axles, but the waste ot'"a great deal of power. i

Again if the car should actunllyju np the track, it will be almost impossible for it to'pullpil' the our next behind it; asthe couplings would break'long before the safety trnoks would yield, if they were properly constructed.

In addition to these advantages, it may be mentioned that the form of the spindles'DD is such that-they may be chambered, and serve asoil-e'ups', the proper apertures being' made from the chambers within them to the bearing-surface on which the wheels tun. Being thus formed, theymay be provided with wicks, or any other suitable means for properly conveying and applying the oil.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination of the inclined grooved wheels 0 G with the horizontal bracing-wheels F'F, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The spring 3', in combination with the sliding plate G, and fixed plate orblockf H, substantially as and for the purpose set forth. p

3. 'A nlauxi'liary' truck, provided with inclined wheels, 0 O, and bracing-wheels, F F, and sliding vertically in guides H H, in themanner and for the purposes indicated.

4. The combination of the plates G G with the wheelsO O, F Fg'the spindles D D, having shoulders d d, and the nuts a a, substantially-as end for the purpose specified;

5;- The guideblocks H H, when supported bypivots M M, working in elongated hearings, in the manner and for the purposes described.

6. The rubber cushions e e, when used in combination with the auxiliary safety-truck above described, in the manner and for the; purposes specified. V

v S. Y. BRADSTREET. Witnesses:

M. M. Moumon,

J. P. HUBTON. 

